Returning series post strong ratings for CBC

Season two of Burden of Truth saw a 50% increase in average audience, while Coroner was the pubcaster's most-watched drama premiere in four years.

Returning series have hit the ground running for CBC this January, with Burden of Truth, Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience and Heartland all posting linear viewership increases over their previous season debuts.

The first episode of Burden of Truth‘s sophomore season attracted an average audience of 735,000, up 50% from its premiere episode last year, which drew an average of 500,000.

Half-hour comedies Kim’s Convenience and Schitt’s Creek (Playback’s 2018 Show of the Year) both gained significant momentum with multi-territory Netflix deals over the past year returned to larger audiences for their January 2019 premieres over 2018. The first episode of Kim’s third season scored an average audience of 804,000, up 7% from a year ago, while Schitt’s garnered 781,000, up 19% from last year. According to CBC, their premiere episodes reached 1.3 million and 1.35 million Canadians, respectively.

Season 12 of family drama Heartland premiered on Jan. 6 to an average audience of 840,000, climbing 18% from a year ago.

Workin’ Moms drew an average audience of 224,000 in its season three premiere. The Catherine Reitman-created series was recently picked up by Netflix and season one is set to launch on the streamer as a Netflix Original on Feb. 22.

Elsewhere, The Stats of Life, which first aired on CBC in 2017, returned for a second season. The factual series uses data to examine three families, one who fits into the typical data and two outliers. The first episode of season two aired on Jan. 11 at 8:30 p.m. to an average audience of 375,000 and reached 762,000 viewers in Canada.

Among the CBC’s other new shows, original drama Coroner garnered the largest AMA and reach on its premiere. The procedural debuted on Jan. 7 at 9 p.m. to an average audience of 1,051,000, making it CBC’s most-watched drama premiere in four years. In total, the show’s first episode reached an audience of over 2 million Canadians.

As for the pubcaster’s other scripted newcomers, Cavendish, fronted by comedians Andy Bush and Mark Little, attracted an average audience of 503,000 during its Jan. 8 debut, while Unspeakable posted an average viewership of 332,000 on Jan. 9.

The first episodes of both Cavendish and Unspeakable reached more than 1 million Canadians, according to CBC.